Christmas Bird Count

[Laurasea]

2/3 of North American birds are in danger of extinction. Nearly every species is rapidly declining...... Visit Audubon and learn more. Find native plant lists to help wildlife by your zip code. Put up nest boxs. Stop using insecticides. Add a water feature.

Join the great bird count!
https://www.audubon.org/conservation/join-christmas-bird-count

Audubon , enter zip code plant lists
https://www.audubon.org/native-plants

Create a backyard habitat. Rent, make a container pollinator garden.
https://www.nwf.org/garden-for-wildlife/certify

Join Nest watch! Researchers asking for data on several species.
https://nestwatch.org/

Build your own nestboxs, free plans by area and species
https://nestwatch.org/learn/all-about-birdhouses/right-bird-right-house/

My signs haven't ordered my Audubon bird sign yet...

 

[Jen5200]

Interesting links! One of these years I may look into the nest watch program more - I love watching the birds on our property .

 

[Laurasea]

Thanks. I wanted to see a summer tanager so bad. I looked for ten years.... This year I had a lot of caterpillars, then I had a lot of wasps eating the caterpillar. Everyone told me to kill the wasps. But I said something eats wasps.
Yep Summer Tanagers eat wasps!!!! They showed up this year for the first time!!! I had a breeding pair!!! And American Red starts showed up to, they like wasps, bees, and butterflies. It was amazing to see such beautiful birds!!

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Summer_Tanager/overview#
Although Summer Tanagers mostly eat bees and wasps, they may also forage on backyard berry bushes and fruit trees near their forest habitat. The Summer Tanager is a bee and wasp specialist. It catches these insects in flight and kills them by beating them against a branch.
All About Birds › guide › overview
Summer Tanager Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Redstart/id

 

[Jen5200]

I know we have western tanagers here, but I have yet to see them at our place....would be very excited to see them on our property! I looked up summer tanagers - dang those are pretty! We do have a ton of birds here, and I have another 150 trees to plant this winter - so I’m sure that number will get bigger . I tend to leave insects alone as long as they don’t place us in immediate danger. I find it really interesting to see who eats who as well. The bald faced hornet nest wasn’t anywhere near the house this year, so I left them alone - I was excited to see them hunting yellow jackets (which I really hate).

 

[Laurasea]

150!! You are planting a Forrest!!! Just like the story if the man who planted a forest! So cool!
What kind of trees?
I planted a mulberry tree as that draws so many species of birds, a plum, 2 crabapple trees, a red buckeye, a native fringe tree ( so pretty), several native dog woods, a Carolina Silver bells tree, a sassafras tree, a paw paw tree for butterflies, a couple of Simpson stoppers, wax myrtle for the painted buntings! Blueberries, blackberries and viburnum.

I get a pair of painted buntings every year they are amazing!!!
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Painted_Bunting/id

 

[Jen5200]

This year we’re planting mostly evergreens - fir, spruce, cedar, pine. We planted 300 or so deciduous trees about 5 years ago, so need to balance with some evergreens. We have 7.5 acres that was cleared for farmland many years ago, leaving trees only close to the house. We’ve been slowly re-planting it for the last 10 years, with the goal being to have 3-4 acres fully treed with mostly native trees. My husband dug a deep 1 acre pond about 10 years ago and that has naturalized beautifully - bringing all kinds of waterfowl onto the property. Many consider us a stop during migration, which is lots of fun to see who passes through.

In FL you would have many more tree options than we have in WA....a bit envious .

A few of the trees waiting for planting in the pic!

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

As a young boy (11 or 12y.o.) I was BIG into the wild birds,feeders and houses,used to go bird watching,I was even in contact periodically with a guy from the National Wildlife Assoc. who would send me "stuff" on occasion.
I remember one winter counting 50 cardinals at the feeder at one time! Back then,cardinals were scarce in these parts of the country. Seeing all those red birds on a freshly laid 6inches of snow was breath-taking. Little chickadee's and titmice and red polls at the window feeder was awesome...


Jim

 

[SailBoat]

I was once a member of the local Audubon and participated in the year bird counts. That said, I had found that our local group had issues with people who had Companion Parrots and the spoiled the fun...

Anyway, the huge area around North America's largest surface water lakes "The Great Lakes" have seen huge reductions in the population of Birds that live at or near the equally huge Great Lakes Wet Lands. The reductions came as a result of the loss of very near if not all of the Great Lakes Wet Lands due to the very high water levels. This resulted in the elimination of nesting areas and food sources as the entire food chain fails due to the rapid change in water levels. As I understand it, it takes 30 years for an eco system to redevelop.

Creating water feature in some parts of North America is not recommended and in some places not allowed. Check with your local government, especially if your area is effected by EEE and /or West Nile.

Audubon is pushing to have cities turn-off their building lighting at night to slow the effect of migrating birds flying into the buildings at night. And, at the same time, they say nothing about the vast deaths that are occurring at the ever increasing number of Wind Farms (Wind Energy to Electrical Energy facilities).

With regards to planting trees! Take care that you are targeting a wide cross-section of native tree types and their variation in age span. Whenever possible, attempts to vary the age, so you are not faced with a larger area of trees that are falling /failing from the effects of age. This is very important with the large family of fir trees as when they get old, they just start falling with little warning.

 

[Laurasea]

As for a water feature, you can add mosquito minnows. They naturally get spread to bodies of water, but usually not our tiny ones. They eat the mosquito larvae!!! I put feeder guppies in mine. They are going strong at 4 year mark now. I don't feed them or do anything.

Here in Florida we had a program this summer ever they gave out free mosquito minnows

Or you can use a solar fountain to keep the water moving..

By water feature I mean a bird bath, a fountain, or a small decorative pond. I had not heard of restrictions???? Everything thing I read begs people to add water, as there naturally would be ditched streams, low areas that we have eliminated from vast track of land. I would love to see the info on that ..

 

[Laurasea]

This year we’re planting mostly evergreens - fir, spruce, cedar, pine. We planted 300 or so deciduous trees about 5 years ago, so need to balance with some evergreens. We have 7.5 acres that was cleared for farmland many years ago, leaving trees only close to the house. We’ve been slowly re-planting it for the last 10 years, with the goal being to have 3-4 acres fully treed with mostly native trees. My husband dug a deep 1 acre pond about 10 years ago and that has naturalized beautifully - bringing all kinds of waterfowl onto the property. Many consider us a stop during migration, which is lots of fun to see who passes through.

In FL you would have many more tree options than we have in WA....a bit envious .

A few of the trees waiting for planting in the pic!

Just amazing!!!! Whish I had all that land!!!

 

[SailBoat]

Water Features;

"By water feature I mean a bird bath, a fountain, or a small decorative pond."
Yup, our government groups where requesting the News Media to request that citizens shutdown /drain their bird baths, fountains and anything that would collect water. Your comment regarding mosquito minnows makes sense because the fish ponds where exempt. Any area that Tested Positive to EEE or West Nile had the requests to eliminate standing water. The more reports, they start night time spraying. To the near South of us (North of the Michigan /Indiana boarder) they night-time sprayed to kill off the mosquito over very large areas.

In our area, this is the second time we have had restrictions in place. The fist time was when West Nile first appeared. The outbreak killed huge numbers of birds. One would come across a Robin 'standing' in the lawn dead... Our warnings included the point if you come across dead birds, do not touch them, but call your local Rangers or Police Departments.

 

[18WheelsOfSteel]

What about snow geese? Pretty sure they make up an extra 1/3 of the avian population in addition to the normal 3/3 of everything else...beastly things are pushing out all my favorite ducks and geese from the breeding grounds and are a real nuissance, so that is an exception bird for me, I personally enjoy donating time to organizations like Delta Waterfowl and Ducks Unlimited to help preserve wetlands, but that's just me.

 

[Laurasea]

PS. Have you seen any Northern Flickers??? I haven't in 14 years...... When I learned they were declining so fast due to lack of secondary cavities, I out out a best box for them. Still haven't seen them in the three years it's been up, but greater crested fly catchers use it every year! I had never seen one before they moved in, they are a tree top bird. They also always put a snake skin in their best! Science studies are underway be to find out why!
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Crested_Flycatcher/id

 

[Laurasea]

Water Features;

"By water feature I mean a bird bath, a fountain, or a small decorative pond."
Yup, our government groups where requesting the News Media to request that citizens shutdown /drain their bird baths, fountains and anything that would collect water. Your comment regarding mosquito minnows makes sense because the fish ponds where exempt. Any area that Tested Positive to EEE or West Nile had the requests to eliminate standing water. The more reports, they start night time spraying. To the near South of us (North of the Michigan /Indiana boarder) they night-time sprayed to kill off the mosquito over very large areas.

In our area, this is the second time we have had restrictions in place. The fist time was when West Nile first appeared. The outbreak killed huge numbers of birds. One would come across a Robin 'standing' in the lawn dead... Our warnings included the point if you come across dead birds, do not touch them, but call your local Rangers or Police Departments.

Interestingly to hear, thanks for sharing.
I actually worked the initial outbreak of West Nile! Before we new it was West Nile!!! I was I. DC at the time working with the federal government. A very terrible time. But many species have since developed immunity. I haven't been involved in year's though.... Perhaps it's spread to more northern areas is having the same effect we used to see.

I've also been part of the EEE monitoring in Florida, but most in the last six years due to my disability. EEE has been around for a long time, and didn't used be tested for as much. Though I always worry about my birds and being outside. The recent spikin human cases.....is it just better diagnostics??? Or a true Spike I'm not sure..

I did a study and published on tick born diseases in Georgia an Florida 25 years ago. I used white tail deer, collected serum and the ticks. We had lymes disease in most of the serology and ticks at that time. Though human doctors weren't aware of that data. The study was repeated recently , not sure if published yet. But us now more widely excepted that lymes disease is in Florida.

Uhhh I kinda geek out on that stuff. I have been fascinated with zoonotic diseases and field work......I'll stop blabbing now..

 

[Jen5200]

I was once a member of the local Audubon and participated in the year bird counts. That said, I had found that our local group had issues with people who had Companion Parrots and the spoiled the fun...

Anyway, the huge area around North America's largest surface water lakes "The Great Lakes" have seen huge reductions in the population of Birds that live at or near the equally huge Great Lakes Wet Lands. The reductions came as a result of the loss of very near if not all of the Great Lakes Wet Lands due to the very high water levels. This resulted in the elimination of nesting areas and food sources as the entire food chain fails due to the rapid change in water levels. As I understand it, it takes 30 years for an eco system to redevelop.

Creating water feature in some parts of North America is not recommended and in some places not allowed. Check with your local government, especially if your area is effected by EEE and /or West Nile.

Audubon is pushing to have cities turn-off their building lighting at night to slow the effect of migrating birds flying into the buildings at night. And, at the same time, they say nothing about the vast deaths that are occurring at the ever increasing number of Wind Farms (Wind Energy to Electrical Energy facilities).

With regards to planting trees! Take care that you are targeting a wide cross-section of native tree types and their variation in age span. Whenever possible, attempts to vary the age, so you are not faced with a larger area of trees that are falling /failing from the effects of age. This is very important with the large family of fir trees as when they get old, they just start falling with little warning.

We’re very lucky here - very few mosquitos in our area, and the only West Nile case documented in our county came from someone who contracted it somewhere else . Our pond is pretty deep and has bass and perch in it (husband put a few put in 10 years ago and they established themselves) and they seem to eat insects/larvae off the surface when they show up.

I hear you about the tree planting! We’ve been planting in 5 year increments, and a variety of native species each cycle. To save on cost, I often buy in bulk and end up with trees that are not all the same age. I would hate to have a bunch come down at the same time, so will definitely continue to space out the ages of trees.

 

[Laurasea]

https://georgiawildlife.com/christmas-bird-count

https://vt.audubon.org/audubon-christmas-bird-count-0

https://fairfaxmasternaturalists.or...assas-bull-run-christmas-bird-count-dec-15th/

 

[Laurasea]

Audubon Declares a 'Bird Emergency,' Demands Immediate Action After Scientists Reveal Huge Losses of North American Birds

‘We have to act now to protect the places birds count on: Places like the Arctic, Great Lakes, Everglades and the Colorado River must be a priority.’

By National Audubon Society

https://www.audubon.org/news/audubo...ands-immediate-action-after-scientists-reveal

 

[SailBoat]

Audubon Declares a 'Bird Emergency,' Demands Immediate Action After Scientists Reveal Huge Losses of North American Birds

‘We have to act now to protect the places birds count on: Places like the Arctic, Great Lakes, Everglades and the Colorado River must be a priority.’

By National Audubon Society

https://www.audubon.org/news/audubo...ands-immediate-action-after-scientists-reveal

As we are centered between the Great Lakes, we have seen a major drop in birds in our area. The further away from a Great Lake, the populations are greater. This is likely caused by the near complete loss of traditional Wet Lands caused by the High Water Levels of the Great Lakes. If I recall correctly it takes 20 to 30 years for those Wet Lands to recover after the lake levels return a center level (not too high, not too low). Although the Great Lakes are at /very near measured all time high. It is not yet close to historical levels as noted by physical markers of even higher levels.

 

[Laurasea]

Sailboat take the time to watch the Messenger, globally songbirds numbers are crashing!! From multiple fronts, migration and lights at night, outdoor cats, land development practice to wipe everything to bare earth, then plant back the same non native trees, loss of insects which over 90% use to feed their young, the lack of nesting cavities, the current trend to have a grass yard wasteland.,..

There are things we can do that have a huge impact for very little trouble to ourselves. Put up nest boxs, plant a native shrub or native tree, add a bird bath, stop useing insecticides. I'm trying to inspire and make people aware of this. As when I started putting up nestboxs my neighbors noticed all the blue birds. When I talked to them they had no idea about dropping bird numbers, or that some birds didn't build a nest and needed cavities to raise the next generation.. I inspired six neighbors to put up nest boxs, one went further and added a bat box, several joined me in planting milkweed for monarchs. We all love birds here hopefully that extends past parrots, but even parrots are being saved by nest boxs in the wild. I posted on the Ornithology thread several different species of parrots that are being helped in the wild by nest box programs.

I hoped that maybe this thread would inspire even a couple of people to take action. To increase awareness of this issue.

THE MESSENGER is a visually thrilling ode to the beauty and importance of the imperiled songbird,
and what it will mean to all of us on both a global and human level if we lose them.
http://songbirdsos.com/

 

[SailBoat]

I only bring up the point of the areas around the Great Lakes because of the millions of acres of flooded Wet Lands and the huge effect.

We have for the last six years planted an acre of Native wild plants along the Eastern edge of the lawn who's irrigation system waters the wild plantings. The planting is of course against the Developments rules. At the cottage there are 15 plus bird houses that we put up each Spring. A family thing that goes back over 40 years.

At our home, we do not have any nesting boxes, first because of the Development rules and second, we live in Red Tail Hawk central.

I only bring up the issue regarding the Water Levels of the Great Lakes because it has had such a huge singular effect in our area and not as an excuse for not doing more. The general Great Lakes area is a major part of two Migration routes and represent a serious problem as it has long been a major refueling area across the full cross-section of Migrating Birds. You are so very correct regarding small things and talking to others.